It seems that head coach Mauricio Pochettino and the U.S. men’s national team haven’t been alone as a host team in taking heat from the media only months prior to the World Cup.
Thierry Henry: “For us, we arrive in almost the same situation, getting criticized a lot throughout friendly games. A lot, actually. People wanted the coach to leave. The press was very against him.” (USA TODAY Sports)
By Michael Lewis
FrontRowSoccer.com Editor
It seems that head coach Mauricio Pochettino and the U.S. men’s national team haven’t been alone as a host team in taking heat from the media only months prior to the World Cup.
It has happened before.
For example, take what transpired before the 1998 World Cup in France.
The French media was on the back of the entire team for months.
We’ll let former French international striker Thierry Henry explain.
“For us, we arrive in almost the same situation, getting criticized a lot throughout friendly games,” Henry said during a press conference promoting the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday. “A lot, actually. People wanted the coach to leave. The press was very against him.”
Aime Jacquet was the French head coach at the time.
“And if you fast forward, the rest is history. We managed to win it,” Henry said. “Some of the press had to apologize to him for the treatment that they gave him for more than two years.”
Underdogs entering the final, host France stunned Brazil, 3-0, in the final.
“So that’s how it is,” Henry said. “It’s always on you to make sure that you can convince people that you can in. Once you do that, people came together with us, they supported us, and we managed to win.
“But right from the start, yeah, it wasn’t easy, but we stayed strong together, and we managed to win it, as you saw.”
The U.S. has been under the proverbial microscopic and then some recently. The Americans lost to the Korea Republic, 2-0, in Harrison, N.J. on Saturday before turning it around via a 2-0 victory over Japan in Columbus, Ohio on Tuesday night.
The USMNT returns to action in October for another two-match set against World Cup qualified opponents. The team will first host Ecuador on Oct. at Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas on Oct. 10. The USA meets Australi at DICK’S Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo. on Oct. 14.